Chapter 111 - You can’t run forever

HADRIAN

At first, I swallow when I notice the irresistible heat coming from her. I try to ignore the burning desire to move closer. I clench my fists and lock my muscles. But in mere seconds her scent intensifies to a degree I’ve never encountered before. *Fuck.*

I fight back, but the curse of my bloodline takes over. It reinvigorates my wolf and the instinct of my nature. The curse recognizes my mate and demands that I lay my claim.

At that point, I lose my control to the darkness.

I feel her heat against mine and I take in her delicious scent. I follow it to the source in her neck and her skin is hot beneath my lips. I need to have her. I need what’s mine.

“What the fuck!” A piercing yell demands my attention and breaks through the dark haze. *What am I doing?*

I remove my hand from her throat and pull away from her neck. My vision clears and reality sets in.

*I was two seconds from forcing my mark on Emma.*

The swell of her breasts presses against my bare chest. Her denim-wrapped legs are spread to accommodate me. There’s shock in her eyes and fear trembling through her body.

Alex and Carter are here, they’re standing ten feet away. They can see me half-dressed hovering over Emma. I don’t know how much they’ve seen. This can go two ways, either they know I’m a werewolf or they assume we were about to have sex.

Either way, we're fucked.

I blink and reign in everything that reveals that I’m a werewolf. I slowly untangle myself from Emma and I swallow the growl for the distance between us.

“Alex…” Emma whispers as she puts her shirt back on.

Alex shakes her head and backs away. “I cannot believe this.” Betrayal is evident in her eyes before she turns and runs away.

“Alex, wait!” Emma shouts and runs after her.

I get up from the ground and intend to follow Emma, but Carter blocks my path. His eyes are wide with confusion and he rubs his jaw. “You’re fucking Emma?”

Well, technically I’m not. Not currently anyway. But that’s not what he wants to hear and the truth is even worse.

*Actually, I was about to mark her before you interrupted me. If you arrived three minutes later then ‘fucking’ would be a somewhat mild expression for what I would’ve been doing to Emma.*

My silence must be enough of a confirmation. Even if my blue aching balls remind me that it’s definitely not the case.

“You can’t,” Carter says, he runs a hand through his short hair and shakes his head. “Dex already claimed her.”

I bite back the growl as the darkness threatens to take over again. This time with the need for destruction and blood. I move closer until I tower over him and grab the fabric of his flannel shirt. “What do you mean by ‘claimed her’?

“Like, he told all the guys in town not to even think about laying a hand on Emma.” His black eyes widen and hold a hint of urgency as he tries to push me away.

I let him go and Carter straightens his shirt. “What the fuck did you think I meant?”

I swallow the rage and take deep breaths to calm myself down. I busy myself with putting on my shirt. “Are you going to tell him?”

“No way, Dex can be…” The hint of a grimace is only short-lived but evident. “But you should stay away from her, dude.” Carter places a hand on my shoulder.

I shrug off his hand and give no further thought to his advice. I would rather fight Dex anyway.

“I mean I get it. You need to blow off steam, but really choose someone else.” Carter scratches his stubble and shakes his head again.

Carter seems oblivious to the fact that I’m a werewolf. He has seen me nearly marking Emma, but he must not have connected the dots. I search for a sign of deception, but I find none. “What are you even doing here?”

“Dex sent me to find you. It’s game night, remember.”

—————————

I want to follow the trail of Emma. No, I *need* to follow her. The anxiety feeds into my veins and unease settles in my stomach. Alex was furious. I worry about what she might do. I don’t trust that Alex came to the same conclusion as Carter. The apprehension continues to build until it trembles through my frame.

“I should check on Emma,” I tell him when we get back in town. I move towards the direction of her scent but a hand on my chest stops me.

“No you shouldn’t,” Carter says and stirs me to the house instead.

Bustling sounds come from the living room when we enter the house. There’s laughter, clinking of glass and a shuffling of cards. The scent of strong liquor and smoke hangs heavy in the air.

Dex sits at the head of the dining table with a burning cigarette hanging between his lips. He parts a stack of cards and riffles them back into one combined stack. Dex lifts his gaze from when we enter the room. “You found him, good work Carter.”

The energy in the room is light and devoid of animosity.

In front of Dex are stacks of chips with all different colors. *Poker.* Two other men are sitting at the table. I’ve seen them before, but I don’t remember their names.

Dex sends me a wide malicious smile. “You can’t run forever, Jack.” He pours a generous amount of amber liquor into a clean tumbler and hands it to me.

I take the glass and take in the aroma of oak, clove, vanilla and walnut. “This is whiskey.” I’m surprised at the liquor in my hand. The spices are hard and the smoke burns a way down my throat. *Damn that’s good.*

It only marginally blunts the edge of unease.

Dex replaces his cigarette with his own tumbler. He breathes through his teeth when the strong burn hits. “At game night we do things differently.” Dex gestures to the empty seats at the table.

I take a seat across from Ben who gives me a nod. Carter takes a seat next to Ben and his eyes move frequently to me.

“How did training go with Emma?” Dex asks as he distributes the cards. “You didn’t work her over too hard, did you?”

Carter chokes when he takes a sip of his drink. His eyes briefly flit to me. All the eyes turn to him and watches his face burn bright red as he coughs. Ben slaps a hand on his back and follows his gaze when it flits my way again.

“Are you okay, bro?” Dex asks with genuine concern.

“I’m fine,” Carter says between coughs.

“She did great.” I keep my voice even and take a swig of whiskey. Dex has a proud smile as I tighten my grip on the tumbler.

The guy next to me chuckles. “Don’t tell me you’re still head over heels for that girl.”

“Shut up, man,” Dex says with a humorless chuckle.

The other guy doesn’t pick up on the lack of humor in his voice. “What has it been, six months?”

The two guys laugh and the smile disappears from Dex. It slowly turns into a scowl. “She has gone through a lot, she needs time.”

I let go of the glass in my hand before it shatters. My knuckles crack under the force of my fingers. I try to hold my composure, but fury is simmering and gaining heat.

The two guys don’t stop the teasing. “That’s a long time to wait for some pussy.”

They cackle and don’t realize that they are the only two laughing. “You should walk away, dude. Before you lose your balls.”

Dex rises from his seat and the chair clatters on the floor. “Get out.” He simultaneously pushes both men and their chairs tip over. The crash of the two men booms through the room.

One of the men clutches the back of his head and he clamors from the floor. “What the fuck, man. She’s just a girl.”

“Just a girl?” Dex grabs the man by the neck and pushes his head against the table. He enforces pressure on his skull and I can see the agony in the man’s eyes.

Dex leans over him and doesn’t relent. “She sacrificed herself for a little girl, knowing that she’ll most likely die. She offered herself to marry some brutal *‘mutant’* to save a town. I cannot imagine the horrors this *‘girl’* must have gone through.” His voice is raw from fury.

The man starts begging for release but Dex doesn’t listen. Dex has something to tell and makes sure that he hears. “And even after all that she comes here and is compassionate and caring. She’s smart and hard-working.”

Dex lets the man go and he falls back to the floor. Dex finishes the rest of his drink in one go. “She has more heart and drive than any of us combined.”

For once I agree with Dex even if his interest in her severely aggregates me.

His easy-going character is nowhere to be found. Fury burns bright in his eyes. “Now. Get. Out.“ His voice is low and threatening and the two men crawl back.

Dex lights up another cigarette and moves to the backyard. “Make sure I don’t have to see their faces again.”